A knowledge of the contour of the valleys of a specified geographical area is very useful in particular in respect of flying craft, especially missiles, which follow the terrain, since the paths defined by said contours of the valleys afford protection to said flying craft and make them difficult to detect in particular by means of radars.
Such contours of valleys may in particular be used when preparing a mission for a missile of the air-to-ground type, by making it possible to define penetration routes for a possible air-to-ground attack.
It will be noted that, in order to obtain satisfactory implementation of such a process, the latter must moreover be usable by any type of flying craft without requiring excessive modifications.